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Russia national rugby union team

National rugby union team

Field	Value
Name	Russia
Nickname	медведи (Medvedi, The Bears)
Badge	Russia Rugby Logo.svg
Badge_size	200px
Emblem	Russian Bear
Union	Rugby Union of Russia
Coach	Aleksandr Pervukhin
Captain	Victor Gresev
Most caps	Yuri Kushnarev (120)
Top scorer	Yuri Kushnarev (797)
Top try scorer	Vasily Artemyev (29)
Home Stadium	Various
pattern_la1	_whiteborder
pattern_b1	_whitecollar
pattern_ra1	_whiteborder
pattern_so1	_whitetop
leftarm1	FF0314
body1	FF0314
rightarm1	FF0314
shorts1	FF0314
socks1	FF0314
pattern_la2	_redborder
pattern_b2	_redcollar
pattern_ra2	_redborder
pattern_so2	_redtop
leftarm2	FFFFFF
body2	FFFFFF
rightarm2	FFFFFF
shorts2	FFFFFF
socks2	FFFFFF
World Rugby Rank	32
World Rugby Rank date	6 January 2025
World Rugby max	16
World Rugby max year	2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
World Rugby min	26
World Rugby min year	2005
First game	**** 28–0
(Soviet Union; 31 August 1975)
'as Russian Federation'''*
Unofficial
27–23 Barbarians
(Moscow, Russia; 6 June 1992)
*Official''
11–17
(Brussels, Belgium; 11 October 1992)
Largest win	7–104
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 13 May 2000)
Largest loss	75–3
(Tokyo, Japan; 6 November 2010)
World cup apps	2
World cup first	2011
World cup best	Pool stage (2011, 2019)
website	rugby.ru

Note

the men's team

| World Rugby Rank date = 6 January 2025 | World Rugby max year = 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 | World Rugby min year = 2005 (Soviet Union; 31 August 1975) '*as Russian Federation''' Unofficial 27–23 Barbarians (Moscow, Russia; 6 June 1992) *Official'' 11–17
(Brussels, Belgium; 11 October 1992) (Copenhagen, Denmark; 13 May 2000) (Tokyo, Japan; 6 November 2010)

The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi (The Bears), is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.

Russia is seen as a Tier 2 union by World Rugby. The team's regular international competition was in the Rugby Europe Championship – often referred to as the Six Nations B. In addition, the team participated in World Rugby-run summer tournaments including the Nations Cup, the dormant Churchill Cup, and other international fixtures.

Russia competed in their first Rugby World Cup (RWC) in New Zealand in 2011 after qualifying as Europe 2 through their second-place finish in the 2009–10 ENC. Russia played in Pool C and finished fifth, scoring one point. Previous qualification campaigns saw elimination to Portugal ahead of the 2007 tournament, and expulsion from 2003 qualifying for Russia's breaches of eligibility rules. The team also unsuccessfully attempted to qualify for the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups. They competed in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan by qualifying as Europe 1 as a result of Spain, Romania and Belgium being eliminated.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby and Rugby Europe suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby and Rugby Europe.

History

The Rugby Union of the Soviet Union was founded in 1936, although the national side did not play its first official international until 1974.

The Soviet Union took time to establish itself, but by the mid-1980s was regularly beating the likes of Italy and Romania. The team was invited to the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup, but declined on political grounds, not least the continued IRB membership of apartheid South Africa. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russian players played for the interim Commonwealth of Independent States team, which played four matches during 1991 and 1992.

The first game played by the new Russian national team took place on June 6, 1992, when Russia beat the Barbarians 27–23. Russia's first game against a full IRB member was versus Belgium four months later in the 1992/4 FIRA-AER European Trophy. That edition of the tournament saw Russia secure its first, and to-date only, win over Georgia. Russia continued to participate until realignment of FIRA-AER competitions in 2000.

The Russian national side has since played its regular competitive rugby in FIRA-AER's European Nations Cup, the second level mirror tournament to the Six Nations. Russia replaced Morocco in the top tier in 2001 and have stayed there ever since. The Russian side has yet to win the title. The team has played in the now-defunct Superpowers Cup, winning the tournament once, the Nations Cup, the Churchill Cup, and most recently the IRB's International Rugby Series. The RUR attempted to gain greater participation in the autumn test window, and was being integrated into World Rugby's global test match schedule.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, World Rugby and Rugby Europe suspended Russia from international and European continental rugby union competition. In addition, the Rugby Union of Russia was suspended from World Rugby and Rugby Europe.

Rugby World Cup

Main article: Russia at the Rugby World Cup

World Cup record

Early qualifying attempts (1987 – 2007)

The Soviet Union declined to take up its invite to take part in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup on the basis of the IRB membership by apartheid South Africa. The Soviet Rugby Union was not an IRB member in time for 1991 Rugby World Cup qualifying.

In qualifying for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the first in which the national side was involved, Russia came through preliminary qualifying with wins over Poland and Georgia, before beating Germany but losing to Romania for the Eastern Europe spot. In European qualifying for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Russia finished fourth in Pool 1 in Round B, which was not enough to progress from a group also including Italy, Georgia, Croatia, and Denmark.

The Russian national side was expelled from qualifying for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, due to eligibility issues. Spain, who Russia had beaten in qualifying, protested the fielding of three South African-born players (Johan Hendriks, Reiner Volschenck and Werner Pieterse), whom the RUR claimed had qualified through ancestry. However, the RUR did not produce documentation deemed acceptable by the IRB, and Spain were re-instated in qualification in Russia's place.

In 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Russia came through European qualifying to a mini-group stage where they were pooled with Italy and Portugal. The winner would qualify directly and the second place team would continue the qualification process, with the third-placed team eliminated. After both losing heavily to Italy, Portugal and Russia met to determine progression to qualifying round 5. Russia lost the match, played in Lisbon, 26–23 and dropped out.

2011

Russia qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand as Europe 2 after finishing second in the 2008–10 European Nations Cup. This marked the team's World Cup debut, with Russia becoming the 25th side to play at the tournament, where they faced Australia, Ireland, Italy and the United States in Group C of the tournament.

Match results	Opponent	Score
15 Sep 2011	6–13	Stadium Taranaki, New Plymouth
20 Sep 2011	17–53	Trafalgar Park, Nelson
25 Sep 2011	12–62	International Stadium, Rotorua
1 Oct 2011	22–68	Trafalgar Park, Nelson

2015

Russia finished third in European qualifying for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The top two teams in the final group— Georgia and Romania — immediately qualified for the 2015 tournament. Russia, as third-place finisher in the final group, faced Uruguay in a home-and-away two-game playoff. Uruguay won on aggregate and secured the 20th and final qualifying spot for the 2015 tournament, with Russia failing to qualify.

2019

Russia once again finished third in European qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. However, after a controversial game played by Belgium and Spain (which was originally intended to be replayed), the issue of three teams in the group stage fielding ineligible players (Belgium, Romania, and Spain) was investigated by World Rugby and Rugby Europe. It was determined that all three teams had violated eligibility rules and gained an unfair advantage (both Romania and Spain defeated Russia) and were sanctioned, and thus, Russia advanced as the automatic qualifier, with Germany headed to the repechage against Portugal.

European Nations Cup

As the Soviet Union, the side secured four straight silvers (all behind France and ahead of Italy and Romania) during the 1980s, and three bronzes. Russia first played the FIRA Trophy in the 1992–94 season. Since 2000, Russia's primary international competition is the European Nations Cup, administered by Rugby Europe and played, by-and-large, during the Six Nations international release window in February and March. Russia won the inaugural Division 2 competition, winning promotion to the top tier in 2000, where they have remained ever since. Since realignment, Russia has secured two runners-up spots and three third-place finishes.

In the 2011-12 season, Russia finished fourth with five wins and five losses. In the 2013-14 season, the team finished third with six wins and four losses. In the 2015-16 season, the Bears again claimed six wins and four losses to finish third. In the 2017 season, Russia finished fourth with two wins and three losses.

Players

Current squad

On the 23rd of January 2022, the following 26 players were called up for the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship.

On the 24th of January, Vasily Artemyev was called up to the squad. On the 26th and 27 January, Vladimir Podrezov and Alexei Golov as well as Victor Kononov and Alexander Gudok were called up to the squad.

On 30 January, Victor Arhip was called up to the squad. On the 1st of February, Ramil Gaisin was called up to the squad.

On 7 February, Evgeny Mishechkin, Alexei Skobiola, Gleb Farkov, Kirill Golosnitsky, Vladislav Sozonov and Maxim Shevtsov were called up to the squad while Kirill Gotovtsev returned to his club.

Head Coach: RUS Aleksandr Pervukhin

Caps updated: 8 February 2022

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Russian national team:

Name	Nationality	Role
Aleksandr Pervukhin	RUS	Manager
Alexander Yanyushkin
VAkil Valeev	RUS	Head coach
Yuri Kushnarev	RUS	Assistant coach
Vacant		Strength & conditioning coach
Dr. Evgeny Trofimov	RUS	Team doctor
Vacant		Physiotherapist

Past Coaches

Since 1992

Years	Coach
–1992	RUS Petr Etko
1992–2000	RUS Vladimir Grachev
2001–2002	RSA James Stoffberg
2003–2004	RUS Aleksandr Pervukhin
2004–2005	RUSFRA Igor Mironov
2006	RSA Blikkies Groenewald
2007–2008	FRA Claude Saurel
2008-2010	ENG Steve Diamond (Director of Rugby)
2008–2011	RUS Nikolay Nerush
2011–2014	WAL Kingsley Jones
2014	FRA Raphaël Saint-André (Interim)
2015–2018	RUS Aleksandr Pervukhin
2018	IRE Mark McDermott (Interim)
2018–2021	WAL Lyn Jones
2021–2022	RSA Dick Muir
2023–	RUS Aleksandr Pervukhin

Stadiums and attendance

The national team does not have a permanent home stadium and play their matches at various locations across Russia. After 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in Russia, the country received new large stadiums as a heritage. The Russian rugby union was given the opportunity to use these stadiums for the home games of the national team. The first big match took place in Moscow at VTB Arena as part of the warm-up to 2019 Rugby World Cup. In February 2020, Russia will host Portugal to the Kaliningrad Stadium.

The highest attended matches in Russia involving the Russian national team were:

Rank	Attendance	Opponent	Date	Venue	Location
1	15,000		1998-04-18	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
2	15,000		2002-09-21	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
3	12,000		2018-11-10	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
4	12,000		2020-02-22	Kaliningrad Stadium	Kaliningrad
5	11,500		2018-02-10	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
6	10,000	USA USA Selects	2003-07-19	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
7	9,500		2021-03-20	Kaliningrad Stadium	Kaliningrad
8	8,237		2020-02-01	Fisht Stadium	Sochi
9	8,000		2008-04-12	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
10	8,000		2014-08-04	Central Stadium	Krasnoyarsk
11	6,500	IRE Connacht	2019-09-07	VTB Arena	Moscow
12	6,000		2018-02-17	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
13	5,850		2019-03-17	Kuban Stadium	Krasnodar
14	5,100	Barbarian F.C.	1992-06-06	RZD Arena	Moscow

Recent and upcoming fixtures

Russia hasn't played in official tests after suspension in 2022.

The following table shows fixtures of the Russian national team in not official test matches during the previous 12 months.

Date	Opponent	Opp Rank	Result	Venue	Event
2024-10-12	RUS Russian Barbarians	n/a	W 38-21	RUS Solidarnost Samara Arena, Samara	Test match

World Rugby Rankings

On introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in October 2003, Russia was ranked 23rd. As of March 2022, Russia was ranked 25th in the world.

Overall record

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Russia national XV at test level up until 12 February 2022, updated after match with .

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff	Total
	5	0	5	0	0.00%	58	200	–142
	2	2	0	0	%	87	78	+9
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	22	68	–46
[[File:Flag of the Basque Country.svg	25px]] Basque Country	2	1	0	1	50.00%	52	42	–10
	8	7	1	0	%	275	148	+127
	5	1	4	0	%	91	157	–66
	5	1	4	0	%	154	155	-1
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	23	–7
	8	6	2	0	%	309	104	+205
	3	3	0	0	%	191	28	+163
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	17	49	–32
	2	0	2	0	0.00%	21	87	–66
FRA French Military	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	33	–21
	25	1	23	1	%	273	621	–348
	11	11	0	0	%	528	140	+388
	5	5	0	0	%	144	62	+82
	3	0	3	0	0.00%	15	132	–117
IRE Emerging Ireland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	66	–66
	5	0	5	0	0.00%	76	283	–207
	2	0	2	0	0.00%	36	60	–24
	4	0	4	0	0.00%	66	129	–63
	7	1	6	0	%	118	299	–161
	1	1	0	0	%	31	10	+21
	3	2	1	0	%	44	46	–2
	7	5	2	0	%	183	141	+42
	5	5	0	0	%	243	47	+196
	1	1	0	0	%	66	0	+66
	1	1	0	0	%	49	19	+30
	4	4	0	0	%	201	59	+142
	21	14	6	1	%	563	429	+134
	25	7	17	1	%	375	634	–259
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	9	34	–25
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	61	–61
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	49	–42
	25	16	9	0	%	688	608	+80
	1	0	1	0	0.00%	13	20	–7
	2	2	0	0	%	57	41	+16
	9	9	0	0	%	439	115	+324
	8	0	8	0	0.00%	110	280	–170
	1	1	0	0	%	30	21	+9
	9	4	5	0	%	215	231	–16
	3	3	0	0	%	92	35	+57

Individual records

Most caps

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Won	Lost	Draw	%
1	Yuri Kushnarev	Fly-half	2005–2021	120	101	19	55	63	2	47.82
2	Victor Gresev	Flanker	2006–2022	107	97	10	46	60	1	44.28
3	Andrey Garbuzov	Lock	2005–2020	100	76	24	45	54	1	45.50
4	Vasily Artemyev	Centre	2009–2022	98	94	4	41	56	1	43.68
5	Andrei Kuzin	Centre	1997–2011	78	68	10	38	37	3	50.64
6	Alexander Khrokin	Prop	1994–2011	76	47	29	36	38	2	48.68
7	Dmitry Gerasimov	Centre	2008-2022	73	63	10	29	44	0	40.84
Vladislav Korshunov	Hooker	2002–2015	73	48	25	32	39	2	45.20
Alexander Voytov	Lock	2003–2014	73	67	6	29	42	2	41.09
10	Viacheslav Grachev	Flanker	1993–2011	72	70	2	33	37	2	47.22

Most tries

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries
1	Vasily Artemyev	Centre	2009–2022	98	94	4	145	29
2	Andrei Kuzin	Centre	1997–2011	78	68	10	130	26
3	Vladimir Ostroushko	Wing	2006–2020	51	47	4	125	25
4	Victor Gresev	Flanker	2006–2022	107	97	10	110	22
5	Viacheslav Grachev	Flanker	1993–2011	72	70	2	95	19
6	Igor Galinovskiy	Wing	2006-2019	50	43	7	90	18
7	Alexander Gvozdovsky	Wing	2005-2010	31	28	3	75	15
Denis Simplikevich	Wing	2011-2021	30	25	5	75	15
9	Evgeny Matveev	Hooker	2007-2020	65	26	39	65	13
10	Anton Rudoy	Flanker	2016-2018	20	19	1	60	12

Most points

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1	Yuri Kushnarev	Fly-half	2005–2021	120	797	11	155	142	2
2	Konstantin Rachkov	Fly-half	1997–2011	44	316	10	51	41	5
3	Ramil Gaisin	Fly-half	2012–2022	60	250	7	46	41	0
4	Vladimir Simonov	Centre	2001-2004	22	168	11	25	18	3
5	Vasily Artemyev	Centre	2009–2022	98	145	29	0	0	0
6	Andrei Kuzin	Centre	1997–2011	78	130	26	0	0	0
7	Vladimir Ostroushko	Wing	2006–2020	51	125	25	0	0	0
8	Alexander Yanyushkin	Scrum-half	2002–2015	70	116	10	9	16	0
9	Viktor Motorin	Scrum-half	1999–2009	41	112	2	24	18	0
10	Victor Gresev	Flanker	2006–2022	107	110	22	0	0	0

Other international teams

Sevens

Main article: Russia national rugby sevens team

Russia also has a rugby sevens team, which competes in several rounds each year on the World Rugby Sevens Series and in the FIRA-AER Grand Prix Sevens circuit, with Moscow hosting the second leg.

The men's first official match was played at the Sevens World Cup qualifier in Dubai, beating Botswana 38-3. Since then, Russia has played 799 matches, winning 375 and losing 409, with 15 ties.

Russia Sevens team last game was at the Euro Championship in Moscow, losing the third-place game vs Germany 19-12.

Russia was crowned European Sevens Champion three times, in 2007, 2016 and 2017. In European Sevens, Russia has an impressive record of 206 victories, 85 loses and 6 ties.

Women

Main article: Russia women's national rugby union team

Russia fields women's national rugby union teams in both fifteens, where it appeared at the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1994 and 1998 as Russia and in 1991 as the USSR, and in sevens, which took part in the first Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2009 and which contests the IRB Women's Sevens World Series.

References

([[Russian language. Russian]]: Сборная России по регби)
"International Rugby Board - Integrated Tier 2 Test calendar moves closer".
Gallan, Daniel. (1 March 2022). "World Rugby joins other sports bodies by suspending Russia and Belarus". [[The Guardian]].
"Rugby Europe Statement – Russia and Belarus Suspension".
RUR Team Media Guide RWC11
Rugby Union of Russia Official Team Media Guide for RWC11
"FEDERACION ESPAÑOLA RUGBY - la DH y LIGA IBERDROLA".
"Official RWC 2011 Site". RugbyWorldCup.com.
[https://rugby.ru/news/sbornaya-rossii-vyletela-v-turtsiyu-dlya-podgotovki-k-matchu-s-rumyniey/ Russia`s squad for the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship]
[https://rugby.ru/news/24-yanvarya-vasiliy-artemev-prisoedinitsya-k-sbornoy-rossii/ Artemyev joins Russia squad.]
[https://rugby.ru/news/eshche-tri-igroka-vyzvany-v-sbornuyu-rossii-po-regbi/ Podrezov, Golov, Kononov and Gudok join Russia squad.]
[https://rugby.ru/news/viktor-arkhip-prisoedinilsya-k-sbornoy-rossii-/ Arhip joins Russia squad.]
[https://rugby.ru/news/1-fevralya-ramil-gaysin-prisoedinitsya-k-sbornoy-rossii-/ Gaisin joins Russia squad.]
[https://rugby.ru/news/v-sostave-sbornoy-rossii-popolnenie/ Mishechkin, Skobiola, Farkov, Golosnitsky, Sozonov and Shevtsov join Russia squad.]
"Russia Rugby's Coaching Staff". [[Rugby Union of Russia]].
[http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;team=57;template=results;type=team;view=opposition Russia rugby statistics]
"Rugby7.com the best Resource for Rugby Sevens on the Web".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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